Let champions decide whether to qualify, says Pele

Former Brazilian World Cup winner Pele said on Saturday that he opposed FIFA's shock decision to deprive the world champions of the automatic right to take part in the following finals.

"It was a big surprise," Pele told a news conference shortly before the draw for the 2002 finals in South Korea and Japan was due to take place.

"Maybe the world champions should be able to choose whether to qualify automatically or participate in the qualifiers themselves," he said.

"It was like a gift, or a privilege for the world champions, and I think they should have the choice."

"When I was playing the coaches always said the qualifiers sharpened you up," said Pele, who was in Brazil's World Cup winning squads of 1958, 1962 and 1970, although he missed the 1962 final because of injury.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter said on Friday that the winners of next year's finals would not automatically qualify for the finals in 2006, breaking a tradition that has existed since the World Cup began in 1930.

Asked about Brazil's struggle to qualify for next year's tournament, Pele blamed lack of preparation.

"The only problem was that there was no time to train for the matches. Everybody knows Brazil has the best players in the world," he said. "But now we have seven months to train and, no doubt, Brazil can still get to the final."

Pele also named England and Portugal as outside bets for the World Cup and mentioned Michael Owen and David Beckham as two players he would be watching out for in South Korea and Japan.

"I think England and Portugal are in very good shape. Look at England, who used to play a very hard, tough game. They have improved a lot and now they play really good football," said Pele.

However, World Cup holders France would still be the team to beat next summer, according to Pele.

"Of course you cannot forget France. They are still the best team in Europe for me and (Zinedine) Zidane is still the best player in the world."